If you really got to have a vector....

Dont get me wrong, I am not stating that the Vector is rolling perfection, but it is an excellent car. The one thing that amazes me is that every article ever written about the Vector complements the vehicle on its fit and finish. The only item that any magazine has ever said negatively was that the car overheats. So on that single item the Vector has some how become the most unreliable supercar ever built.

 

What is scary is that every person on earth praises the McLaren F1. But it is one of the scariest cars I have ever driven, the ass end always wants to become the front end of that car when driving it. The president of BMW purchased one of the first F1's and promptly spun it in to a telephone pole totaling the car. Many other McLaren owners have done the same thing. The car is light but the rear end is heavy and the handling is unforgiving. Maintenance on the car is atrociously expensive but its the ultimate supercar. The XJ 220 has ageing pains, the fuel bladders go bad in that car along with many other problems that cost owners tons of money to maintain, but its still considered one of the fastest cars on the planet today with no negative press. EB 110's are wonderful cars but parts are difficult to obtain only Dauer has the remaining parts and to obtain them will cost you your left arm and your first-born.

 

Ferraris need expensive ridiculous maintenance to keep them on the road, yet for some reason everyone praises them as one of the best exotic cars manufactured today. How many people would accept taking any other car in every 5000 and 7500 miles for $2500 and $7500 services and call that a good deal for something you have just spent $200,000+ dollars to purchase? Yet those cars are not considered unreliable?????????? In this day and age of the 100,000 mile tune up on a Toyota, Ferrari cant make a car that will run longer than 7500 miles without a major service?

 

Own a Ferrari or Lamborghini for 14 years and only put $2000 in to maintaining it and see how well it runs after that time frame with that amount spent on maintenance. The Vector runs flawlessly and still looks new.

How does that make it the worst Supercar ever built? I'm not sure. But for the 17 owners that have them 98% wouldnt sell the car to save their own lives. They all love them.

Thank you very much for the write up, it did help shade a new light on that mystery named Vector..

If you happen to live in So Cal I would like to invite you to join us to one of our Lambo runs, last run we had a EB110 join us, we can definitely use Vectors company.. :supz:

Thank you very much for the write up, it did help shade a new light on that mystery named Vector..

If you happen to live in So Cal I would like to invite you to join us to one of our Lambo runs, last run we had a EB110 join us, we can definitely use Vectors company.. :supz:

 

You are quite welcome. Thank you for the invitation, unfortunately I reside in Michigan these days. I would have loved to join you on your runs with the Lamborghini's. Maybe if I return to So-Cal again some day we will get to do that. I do miss living out there. Unfortunately I had to relocate where the automotive jobs were back in 1994. So here I am. Slightly stuck here due to my career of choice.

 

Thanks again rakjoe.

Interesting history lesson. Thanks. If I may ask, how did the m12 come along. Its the only Vector I know anything about, probably because I work on Lambos for a living and have had a couple Vectors in the shop.

Interesting reading. Do post some pics of your car :partyman:

Thanks for the info and wlecome to our board!

Tell us more! Where did the founder come up with $30 million!? Where is he now?

With your permision VectorW8015 I'll post a link containing some pictures of your car.

And more can be found here

With your permision VectorW8015 I'll post a link containing some pictures of your car.

And more can be found here

 

Sure, go ahead.

VectorW8015, did you get your car from Michael in HB?

The $30 Million was raised both publicly and privately. Unfortunately the private investors didn’t see a return on their investment. For that matter neither did the public investors.

 

As for the where is he now, that is an easy one. Jerry still sits in the 400 N Marine building in Wilmington CA. He has not seen any success since Vector. Mostly some neat ideas generated, but they went no further. He was attempting another exotic car, but it was a far cry from the Vector W8. It has failed to generate much interest. The Vector was his swan song. Never to be duplicated again.

VectorW8015, did you get your car from Michael in HB?

 

 

No, Michael owned car 008. The only other white Vector W8 produced. His had gold pearl in the clear coat, mine is white with blue pearl in the clear coat.

VectorW8015, thank you so much for this write-up. It has to be one of the most interesting bit of information I've read in a LONG time on a car forum. Very good insight on how the Vector was developed and how it behaved. It's also nice to hear both sides of the story.

 

Welcome.

 

-Olivier

Very very good informations, thank you VectorW8015 =D>

Any time guys, I am always happy to discuss the Vector with other car people.

What those W8 are worth realisticly today ?

thanks for the info, have seen you on a couple other boards. will be good for you to finally be able to talk of the car without being on the back-foot and defending against a decade of poor information.

I kinda like that car, interior does look like early 90's GM cars but that's part of the heritage of that car I guess.

I would much rather own a Vector then any Ferrari of that time (excluding F-40).

Vector prices are tough to put a finger on. It really depends on the condition of the car. Typical prices start in the very high hundreds to mid two hundreds. But one of the cars just went to Japan to the tune of 1.2million. With only 17 production W8's and two preproduction W8's in private hands and most of the owners unwilling to sell the car at all, me being one of the latter. If someone wants one for his or her collection you are at the mercy of negotiating with whichever owner is willing to entertain an offer at the time. Then you have to decide if the car that is available is worth the asking price. 3-4 of the cars could use some proper care to make them perfect again.

 

The rest either have been restored by David Kostka to rolling perfection or have been maintained to the nines their whole lives and are just perfect to drop in to that ultimate supercar collection.

 

Any person looking for one is truly at the mercy of availability and any particular owners moment of financial desperation.

1.2 mill for a vector? Damn thats nuts.

1.2 mill for a vector? Damn thats nuts.

 

Nothing too surprising to me. Back in the exotic car boom period of the early 90's 2 of them were sold for that price. With only 19 available (17 production and 2 preproduction cars), what is it really worth? To duplicate the car today at todays prices (accounting for inflation)it would cost more than 1 million, so if you have the money and want one bad enough, I guess the price is not to far out there.

Was this you?

 

$1.2 million? This one looks like it might have been reasonably priced...

 

 

 

Which car was this one?

I'm extremely happy to see you posting this… I have been preaching the same things for years now about the W8.

 

There are many many other cars that were truly vaporware, and none get as bad of a rap as the Vector. Wigerts concept of aeronautical design applied to the automobile, along with the idea of the 1st all American supercar should not be forgot. I'm very glad to see that you’re out there preserving the mark.

 

 

Here are a few iterations of an evolution of the W8 design…

 

More pics of the original car please!